"Film School Shorts" is made possible by a grant from Maurice Kanbar, celebrating the vitality and power of the moving image.

Additional funding for "Gwen" was provided by the Bridges-Larson Foundation.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ CJ: Oh!

Robo Boss: Oh, hello, CJ.

You're early.

CJ: Mark?

Markus: Hey.

Wait, CJ?

Robo Boss: Let's begin the tour.

So, here's the office space.

We're currently in the process of a new huge project both of you will be working on.

We've already started on the base structure, but we think it's gonna look pretty cool.

You'll both be working hard together.

♪♪ CJ: [ Muffled ] Aah!

Markus: Hey.

[ Chuckles ] Lunch?

CJ: Sure.

[ Pop, pop! ]

Time for Plan 1.

Markus: Did you say something?

CJ: Uh, potatoes are fun.

Markus: [ Chuckles ] I didn't know you moved out here.

It's nice to see a familiar face.

CJ: Oh, it's only for this job.

I'm renting a place downtown.

How about you?

I thought you were back on Earth.

Markus: Yeah, I was considering it after graduation, but this is so close to home without being home.

Plus, the work is pretty cool and pays well.

Oh!

CJ: Ah!

Markus: Uh, sorry.

♪♪ [ Laughs ] Oh, by the way, we should swap numbers.

Here's mine.

[ Pop! ]

Lunch?

[ Chuckles ] Lunch?

CJ: So, how do you like living in the asteroid belt?

Markus: Well, I grew up not too far from here and worked here several summers before, so it's not all that new for me.

CJ: Oh, cool!

Me, too!

I used to live near the rings and commute to the fields, which, you know, kind of sucked, but I read a lot.

Markus: Wow, that's crazy.

CJ: I know.

It took like an hour one way.

Markus: No, I didn't know you could read.

[ Both laugh ] CJ: Whoa, man!

Rude!

[ Ding! ]

Markus: Oh, mind if I take this?

It's my girlfriend.

CJ: [ Gasps ] Markus: Hey, what's up?

Good, we just started the project, so not much to complain yet.

No.

Oh, no, it's a studio.

♪♪ [ Ice crackling ] ♪♪ Robo Boss: Hey, Markus, do you have a minute?

Can I talk to you briefly outside?

Markus: Sure, I'm good now.

Man, I don't work as hard as I could just because I don't stay overtime?

How is that fair?

I physically can't stay past 7:00 because of train times, and we don't even get paid when we do.

None of the other robots stay overtime, either.

CJ: Dude, I'm sorry you got the talk.

Markus: I don't want to be a disposable thing.

I value my work, and I hope they do, too.

I don't even want to come back to this city again.

CJ: Oh, really?

Markus: Post-grad life is hard, man.

I miss my friends and girlfriend so much.

I only took this job because I thought the studio would be a nice fit.

[ Squeaking ] CJ: Hmm... Hmm?

Hmm?

Markus: Lunch?

CJ: Ah!

[ Both chuckle ] Markus: So, I'm quitting.

CJ: Wait.

What?

Markus: Yeah, I know I'm technically contracted for the full year, but I don't think I can handle staying at the studio for much longer.

I already have another job ready.

I have until the end of the week.

CJ: Whoa.

Whoa, big decisions.

Well, I'm happy for you.

What?

You didn't want to stay when I leave?

I didn't think you'd miss me that much.

Markus: That was a factor.

Who would eat lunches with me when you leave?

I won't get any free food anymore.

[ Chuckles ] CJ: Oh, my God.

Stop.

Markus: I'll miss you.

CJ: Oh, my God.

Markus: ♪ I'll miss you ♪ CJ: Oh, my God, dude.

Markus: I'll miss you.

[ Both chuckling ] CJ: Stop.

Stop.

Stop right there.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: Welcome to the Blue Briar neighborhood.

With dusk only just rising, no creature dares awake from their slumber.

But in this quaint, mildly outdated home, there is no such thing as normalcy.

♪♪ This home's inheritor has just returned from her early visit to the coop with her prized Rhode Island Red eggs.

♪♪ ♪♪ Beautiful, odd, overachieving.

♪♪ This...is Gwen.

♪♪ She holds a singular and intense passion for the greatest gift mankind has ever been handed since before our species walked the earth -- eggs.

♪♪ With spring well underway, quickly approaching is the Blue Briar Neighborhood Fair, a fantastic romp where children frolic in freshly sprouted flora, artists of all kinds share their proudest work, and neighbors enjoy the company of one another.

♪♪ Gwen takes the event a bit more seriously than this, however.

She has used her unique and precise passion for eggs to bring home the coveted Best Dish prize four years in a row.

♪♪ [ Applause ] A hobby worth putting one's pride in.

♪♪ There are 10 types of chickens that will lay the most eggs, each unique depending on the chicken.

There's Leghorn, Plymouth, Sussex, Buff Orpington, Barnevelder, Marans, Hamburg, Ancona, Hybrids, and, of course... the Rhode Island Red.

♪♪ ♪♪ Choosing the right breed is the single most important decision for an egg connoisseur.

Gwen treasures her beloved and rambunctious ladies as if they were her own children.

♪♪ Gwen's love for the art of the egg is closely followed by a strict routine.

Each evening, once her hens are roosting, Gwen makes a visit to the nearby corner store to purchase ingredients for her next 24 hours in the kitchen.

[ Cat meows ] ♪♪ [ Sizzling ] As a self-proclaimed god of the culinary world, Gwen cannot risk the luxury of time off.

Gwen hasn't made or consumed a dish without eggs in seven and a half years.

She doesn't mind, though.

Each meal is practice.

♪♪ Junior's Mother: You be careful!

That's how your father got cracked!

♪♪ [ Snoring ] Narrator: Our dear Gwen hasn't always been a champion, though.

There was the spring of 2009, when that amateur, Eugene Albert, earned Best Dish for his eccentric dill pickles.

[ Applause ] ♪♪ Some do not fare well with failure.

♪♪ Gwen: Aah!

Narrator: The queen of the Blue Briar Fair had fallen.

Like Humpty Dumpty from his wall, she was in pieces, a loser.

Gwen fell into a deep depression, but the light in her incubator hadn't quite flickered out, for fate led Gwen to another, greater loser, one who didn't quite mind being a loser at all... ♪♪ ...Nate... Gwen's opposite but other half.

His support is always nearby, and he is no less than elated to share it.

An illustrator with the fire to create, Nate has been turned down from every art competition in the continental United States every single year.

♪♪ The time has arrived.

With her confidence and her abilities fully restored, Gwen must pull out all the stops to achieve a victory in her return to the Fair.

♪♪ Focus is of the utmost importance.

♪♪ Junior and Easter Egg: ♪ Spooning in a spoon ♪ ♪♪ Narrator: A bit of routine is in order before her uncertain return.

Junior and Easter Egg: ♪ Deviled with a croon ♪ Narrator: We've now reached what one woman might consider the most important day of the year, the Blue Briar Neighborhood Fair.

♪♪ Neighbors from as far as the mouth of the crooked creek have ventured out to the Fair to display their prides and passions, and of course, participate in a little friendly competition... ♪♪ ...even if they know they won't be winning the competition.

♪♪ [ Applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ There's something poetic in the calm of being humbled, in the acceptance of change where change has never been invited, in the understand that sometimes it's okay to allow yourself the simplicity of peace.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Lee: You can watch more films by subscribing to our YouTube "Film School Shorts" is made possible by a grant from Maurice Kanbar, celebrating the vitality and power of the moving image.

Additional funding for "Gwen" was provided by the Bridges-Larson Foundation.

♪♪ ♪♪